Best Practices for Conducting Systematic Reviews

Fromm, Y., Martin, F., Gezer, T., & Ifenthaler, D. (2025). Best practices for conducting systematic reviews: Perspectives of experienced systematic review researchers in educational sciences. Technology, Knowledge and Learning. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10758-025-09819-9

• This study is based on interviews with experienced systematic review researchers, providing empirical evidence to support its recommendations, lending more weight to the suggested best practices.
• The article trans­lates best practices into actionable implications for each stage of the systematic review process, from designing research questions to reporting findings, offering practical guidance for researchers, instructors, and reviewers.
• Team collaboration, ethical considerations (bias, replicability), and technology use in systematic reviews are areas often overlooked but vital for quality research.

Systematic reviews have been gaining attention as a research methodology and are among the most frequently cited sources in educational sciences. However, best practices for conducting systematic reviews in educational sciences are still evolving. We conducted N = 12 qualitative interviews to learn from experienced systematic review researchers across various educational disciplines and geographic locations. The interviews focused on the different steps of the systematic review process (i.e., designing, including/excluding, screening, coding, analyzing, reporting), benefits, challenges, team collaboration, ethical considerations, and technologies while conducting systematic reviews. Several themes were identified, providing best practices for conducting systematic reviews and highlighting the importance of a systematic, comprehensive, and trans­parent research process. Thge findings have implications for researchers who wish to conduct systematic reviews, instructors who teach students on conducting systematic reviews, as well as editors and reviewers of journals who publish systematic reviews.

Access the article here: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10758-025-09819-9?utm_source=rct_congratemailt&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=oa_20250204&utm_content=10.1007%2Fs10758-025-09819-9